FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

January 18, 2005

Contact: Jon Caldara, Independence Institute
303-279-6536
jon@i2i.org

Poll Shows Little Support to Weaken TABOR or Raise Taxes

GOLDEN, Colo. – The results of a new poll commissioned by the Independence Institute
and the Colorado Club for Growth shows a lack of voter support for modifying Colorado’s
Taxpayers Bill of Rights (TABOR) or seeking a TABOR override (known as De-Brucing).
According to a scientific survey by the nationally-recognized polling firm TelOpinion
Research, only 33 percent of likely Colorado voters who voted in the most recent election
approve reducing their TABOR tax refunds or removing the so-call ratchet mechanism.
More than half (52%) of the survey’s 600 respondents altogether opposed weakening
TABOR or giving up $500 million in tax surplus refunds. Only 33% are in favor of a proposal
that would allow state government to keep more tax revenue. The results refute recent claims of
Coloradans’ sagging support for TABOR.
“This just goes to show what we’ve already known,” said Independence Institute
President Jon Caldara. “Despite the best efforts of Colorado’s spending lobby to blame TABOR
for everything from the state’s budget shortages to causing baldness in lab rats, most Colorado
taxpayers are happy with TABOR the way it is.”
“Voters realize that Colorado’s budget situation is not a revenue problem, it is a spending
problem. Legislators must deal with the strong likelihood that voters will reject a tax increase. It
would be wiser for them instead to spend their limited time working on finding efficiencies and
productivity inside government to address any budget shortfall.”
“The legislature should focus on re-inventing the way the state does business to
encourage cost savings without large reductions in governmental service” Caldara said, citing
Performance Based Budgeting, competitive contacting, procurement reform, and sentencing
reform as methods to increase governmental output.
“While legislators expect more from taxpayers, it is clear that Coloradans expect more
from government,” Caldara said. “The taxpayers want to keep TABOR in place to keep their
elected officials in line.”
The Independence Institute is a non-partisan, non-profit public policy research
organization based in Golden, Colo.
###